


Connection

by kakarott



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Cute boys, Fluff, I love them so much, Innocent kids, M/M, Somewhere, Soulmates, The Upside Down, a bit angsty, byler, i guess before they meet eleven, takes place during s1e1, the vanishing of will byers, their souls are connected
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-30
Updated: 2017-11-30
Packaged: 2019-02-08 20:06:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12872028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kakarott/pseuds/kakarott
Summary: Will hides inside Upside Down's version of Mike's house and something there surprises him.





	Connection

**Author's Note:**

> Another gift for a friend on Twitter. It's based on one of their imagines. Thank you for letting me write this!

Will lay curled into a small ball on a tattered mattress. Castle Byers’ roof ahead of him was destroyed, bits and pieces of wood were spread out around him. He was shivering from the bone-chilling cold, his clothes were wet, his hair tousled and dirty. His teeth clattered inside his mouth, he tried to warm himself with a blanket full of holes but it didn’t give him any significant warmth. Alien chittering could be heard around him, but to his relief, he didn’t see any monsters. He knew they could jump at him any moment though and it scared him. He just wanted to go home, to his own world, back to Joyce, Jonathan, Mike… his friends. Will swallowed and opened his dry mouth, trying to remember the lyrics for the song that Jonathan had played for him a couple of weeks ago. He hummed the melody, the lyrics not coming to his mind. He sighed and stopped humming, looking at the black sky above. Grey specks of spores filled the air, almost clouding his vision. Suddenly he remembered the lyrics to the song, he opened his mouth and started singing, his voice weak.

“Should I stay or should I go now? Should I stay or should I go now? If I go there will be trouble, and if I stay it will be double…”

He went silent and swallowed, his mouth was so dry. He was thirsty but hadn’t found any water… A loud chitter made Will jerk from fear, the monster suddenly appeared in front of him, its flowerlike face open, showing its multiple rows of teeth. Will let out a small cry of fear, rising quickly from his hiding place and barely escaped the monster’s hands grabbing for him on weak legs. He ran the fastest he could, tripping over black vines. He hit his face on the cold ground, his lip split open. An iron taste of blood filled his mouth as he ran. Millions of thoughts crossed his mind, where was he going to hide now? He couldn’t hide at Castle Byers anymore, nor his own home. He didn’t know the way to Dustin’s or Lucas’ homes from here. Wait, maybe he could go to Mike’s house?

Will turned around and steered his way toward Maple Street, his lungs aching from the intense running. He stopped to breathe for a moment at Mike’s door, looking behind him, no monster in sight. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his breathing before he opened the door to Mike’s house. The sight that met him was weird and unusual. Wheeler’s usual well-cleaned house was filled with black vines climbing from the floor, across the walls and up to the ceiling. The grey specks of spores flew around here too, like snowflakes in a windy day.

Will closed the door silently behind him and carefully walked around the house. He felt empty somehow, he missed seeing Ted in his armchair, hearing Holly’s laughter as Karen played with her, hearing Nancy talking to a friend from upstairs… He missed seeing Mike’s smile at him as he came through the door. Mike… He’d never missed him as much as he did in this moment, his heart ached.

Will sighed sadly, feeling close to tears as he stepped down the stairs to Wheeler’s basement. He listened carefully if one of the monsters hid down there but he couldn’t hear anything, it was quiet. He sneaked down the last couple of stairs and sat down on the worn yellow couch, making himself comfortable among the pillows. Was that a laugh? He looked around but didn’t see anyone that would have laughed, he was probably going crazy from being too much in this dimension.

Will closed his eyes for a moment, imagining that Mike sat beside him. A smile went over his lips as he felt Mike close to him, for the first time since he’d ended up here, he felt _safe_ , like his imaginary version of Mike protected him somehow. He was suddenly warm as if Mike was really  _there._

_——_

Mike sighed loudly as he sat down on the yellow couch in his basement. Their search for Will tonight had been a failure. They had looked for hours around Will’s house and Mirkwood but had found nothing. Hawkins police department hadn’t found him either and they had no clue where Will could’ve gone. It seemed like their hope of finding Will had vanished. Mike curled into a ball on top of the couch and stared into the air. He was really worried about Will, he wondered if Will was okay or if he… if he had died…? No, he couldn’t think like that. He had to have hope, Will wasn’t the one to be defeated in the first place. Although… Things were not as they used to be. Something dark had reached Hawkins and Will’s disappearance was only the start of it. Mike couldn’t place his finger on what it was, he just had a feeling that something bad had arrived.

He sighed again and closed his eyes, imagining Will was beside him. Suddenly, it was like Will was there with him. He could feel his presence. Mike opened his eyes and for a brief moment, he thought he saw Will sitting beside him. He gasped and his heart beat violently.

“Will?” he whispered.

~

It was Mike! Mike’s voice! Will looked around in the dark basement, not seeing Mike but he could still _feel_ him somehow. He didn’t know why or how, but he was happy he did.

“Mike?” he said, not too loudly as he reached out his hand to the empty place beside him. His hand gripped something that felt exactly like another human’s hand, only that it was invisible.

“Mike?” he whispered, his eyes burning with tears of happiness. He felt so relieved, he didn’t know how but right now in this moment he had a connection to _his_ world, to Mike.

~

Mike’s eyes grew wide as he felt a hand closing around his, it was soft and warm and _invisible_. He gulped and gave the hand a soft caress with his fingertips. He was sure, it _was_ Will’s hand.

“Will! Will! Are you okay?” he suddenly shouted and held Will’s invisible hand harder in his, afraid Will might disappear or something. Tears of relief burned the corner of his eyes, Will was _alive_ , he wasn’t gone, not yet.

~

Will strangled a sob as he felt Mike stroking his hand delicately. He couldn’t cry now, he had to tell Mike that he was safe, at least for the moment.

“I’m o-okay”, he managed to breathe through the lump in his throat. “But, M-Mike, it’s so dark and cold… and scary”, he added, tears rolling along with his cheeks. “I’m all alone… and the monsters…” He went silent and sobbed. He hated this place.

~

Mike’s heart sank as he heard Will sobbing. He wished he could be there with him, to comfort him and tell him that he wasn’t alone, that he was there for him and that he and their friends would do anything in the world to help him come home. 

“Will, you’re not alone, w-we are all looking for you, we will never give up until we’ve found you! I promise!” he said, his voice was filled with determination. He suddenly snarled in pain, it felt like his hand was on fire. He brought it to his chest.   
“Will?!” he shouted but Will wasn’t there, he was gone. Their connection was broken.

~

Will brought his aching hand to his chest and held it there for a moment. Mike's words had filled him with hope, he just had to stay strong, they were looking for him and wouldn’t stop until they’d found him. He dried his tears with the sleeve of his jacket and pulled a dusty blanket over him, closing his eyes as he thought of Mike, how their hands had touched and his promise. He **would** survive this, he knew he would. Mike wouldn't let him disappear.


End file.
